Japanese sociolinguistics politeness and women's language PDF

Preview

Summary

Lingua 57 (1982) 357-385 357 North-Holland Publishing Company JAPANESE SOCIOLINGUISTICS POLITENESS AND WOMEN’S LANGUAGE* Sachiko IDE zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFED Japan W omen’s University , Tokyo Received May 1982 The most interesting but recalcitrant issue in Japanese socioling...

Description

Accelerat ing t he world's research.

Japanese sociolinguistics politeness and women's language Sachiko Ide Lingua

Cite this paper

Downloaded from Academia.edu 

Get the citation in MLA, APA, or Chicago styles

Related papers

Download a PDF Pack of t he best relat ed papers 

Japanese honorifics: t he cult ural specificit y of a universal mechanism. barbara pizziconi

Polit eness St rat egies in Cross-cult ural Prespect ive: St udy of American and Japanese Employment R… Ivona Barešová On t he cat egorizat ion of t he Japanese honorific syst em Keigo Ivona Barešová

Lingua

357

57 (1982) 357-385

North-Holland

Publishing

Company

JAPANESE SOCIOLINGUISTICS POLITENESS AND WOMEN’S LANGUAGE*

Sachiko IDE zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFED Japan

W omen’s University , Tokyo

Received

May

1982

The most interesting but recalcitrant issue in Japanese sociolinguistics is perhaps honorifics. In Japanese, honorifics are a morphologically welldefined system which is used to express politeness. There are various devices to express politeness in language, but honorifics are the core of Japanese polite expressions. In this paper I will first present a description of the grammar of honorifics. Honorifics are used when social factors call for polite speech patterns; that is, when we refer to or address a respectable person or when formality is involved. I will then describe who a respectable person is and what formality is in Japanese society ~ the description here is given in the form of social rules for politeness. It is assumed that our polite behavior is controlled by such social rules. It is in terms of both the grammatical rules and the social rules of politeness that the communicative competence of honorifics is to be described. In a discussion of polite language, women’s language cannot be ignored, for one of the fairly wide-spread features of women’s language is its politeness. Japanese women’s speech, which has features distinct from men’s speech, is no exception. For this reason, Japanese women’s speech is briefly discussed to see what features contribute to make women’s speech polite in Japanese. Following this discussion, universal features of polite speech are sought. *

The research

presented

by the late Dr. Noriko

here was supported

Takahashi,

to whom

0024-3841/82jOOOCrOOOO/$O2.75

in part this paper

0

by the Takahashi is respectfully

fellowship dedicated.

1982 North-Holland

founded

S. zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHG Ide / Politeness and women’.v language

358

1.

The structure of honorifics

Japanese polite expressions involve two kinds of honorifics, one expressed by means of changing the shape of nominal elements, and the other by predicative elements.’ The former type is analogous to the polite expressions which occur in the category of address forms. The latter, on the other hand, is a rather more complex system in which not only the sociological nature of the nominal referent, but also the grammatical relation of such an element needs to be taken into consideration. In addition, the status of the adressee plays an important role in this latter system. In this section, expressions such as ‘respectable person’ or ‘a person worthy of the speaker’s respect’ are simply used without defining what constitutes such a person. This question will be taken up in the next section. I .I.

Honotvfication of nominal elements

Nouns undergo sidered worthy of people or objects. are called person

morphological modification when their referents are conshowing the speaker’s respect. Such nouns may refer to In this study, nouns and pronouns referring to people referents.

Person rgfkren ts

The complex forms of person referents in Japanese are roughly grouped into three categories : personal pronouns, names with titles, and professional ranks. They are used both as address forms and as the nominal elements of sentences such as subjects and objects. In the following lists, in which only representative forms of person referents are presented, the honorific forms are marked with either one or two asterisks (two asterisks indicating a higher degree of honorification). ( 1)

Personal pronouns

(a) first person’

men’s speech

u~omen‘s SpeCNll

watakusi** watasi* boku

watakusi** atakusi* watasi zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTS atasi

OK

’

For

a detailed

in which ’ Strictly pronominal

description

he discusses

of Japanese

the grammar

honorifics

of honorifics

written

in terms

speaking, these first person pronominal forms forms for they do not express the speaker’s

in English,

of transformational

see Harada

1976,

grammar.

are not the same as the other deference toward the referents.

359

S. Ide / Politeness and women’s language

(b)

second

(C) third

person

person

anata

anata kimi

anta

omae ano kata*

‘that

person’

ano kata*

ano hito

‘that

person’

ano hito

kare

‘he’ ‘she’

kanozyo (2)

Names with titles (LN : last name;

(a)

LN/FNjkinship (e.g. Satoo-sama,

LN/FN/kinship (e.g. Satoo-san,

LN/FN

FN

: first name)

+ sama**

Hanako-sama,

otoo-sama ‘father’)

terms + sari** Hanako-san,

+ kun (used mainly

(e.g. Satoo-kun,

(b)

terms

kare kanozyo

otoo-san)

for male referents)

Taroo-kun)

(LN) + sensei** (e.g. Satoo-sensei) (LN) + senpai** (e.g. Satoo-senpai)

Srnsei literally means a teacher. But it is also used as a title not only for all kinds of teachers but also for other respectable professionals such as doctors, politicians, and writers. Senpai literally means a senior colleague. It is also used as a title in referring to a senior colleague in organizations of many types, e.g. student groups and company workers. Sensei and senpai can be used as personal referents without last names. (3)

Professional Ranks 3

(LN) syatyoo

‘president

(LN) senmu

‘executive director (of a company)’ ‘division chief (of a company)’

(LN) butyoo (LN) katyoo (LN) gakutyoo

(of a company)’

‘department

chief (of a company)’

(LN) gakubuty oo

‘president (of a university)’ ‘dean (of a university)’

(LN)

‘professor’

ky oozy u

These professional ranks are either used independently or with last names (e.g. sy acy oo or Satoo-syatyoo). Except for kyoozyu, these rank titles co-occur with sama and san (e.g. sy aty oo- E, sy aty oo- san) with added respect. -

Differentiation starred forms 3

of these forms is better explained being used in formal speech.

When these rank titles are used by subordinate

is expressed,

but in the reverse

situation

in terms persons

only formality

of the notion in reference

is involved.

of formality;

to superiors,

the

deference

360

S. Ide / Politeness and women’s language

Nouns with honorific prefixes Nouns referring to objects may take the honorific prefixes o or go. Go generally goes with Sino-Japanese nouns (those that are borrowed from Chinese), while o occurs with other nouns; e.g. hon : go-hon ‘book’, kane: o-kane ‘money’. These prefixes are attached to nounsthat refer to objects that are linked with respectable persons. The most general case is when a noun refers to an object that is possessed by a respectable person (e.g. sensei no hon : sensei no go-hon ‘teacher’s book’). Another use of these prefixes involves a noun whose referent is produced by a respectable person (e.g. sensei no go-sakuhin ‘teacher’s work’, o-tegami ‘letter’ used in reference to a letter wr&n by a respectable person). The prefixes o and go have variants such as on and mi which express a higher degree of deference and which co-occur only with specific nouns (e.g. -on-tyosyo ‘book’, -mi-te ‘hand’). 1.2.

Honorifi:cation of predicative elements

Honorification of predicative elements can be divided into two types referent honorifics and addressee honorifics. Referent honorifics occur when the noun phrases of a sentence refer to someone respectable. However, in this case, morphological modification applies not to the noun phrases themselves (as it was the case with the honorification of nominal elements discussed above), but to predicative elements. Addressee honorifics also entail morphological modification of a predicative element when the speaker’s deference toward the addressee is expressed. Referent honor$cs Referent honorifics are further divided into two types. When the subject noun phrase is concerned, one type of honorific form is used. This type is called subject honorifics (SH). Another honorific form occurs when non-subject noun phrases are concerned. This type is called object honorifics (OH). Subject honorifi:cs Subject honorifics involve the prefix o (go in the case of Sino-Japanese predicates) and the ending ni naru which is attached to the infinitive form of a verb. Only the prefix is attached when the predicate is an adjective or a nominal adjective.

S. Ide / Politeness and women’s language

(44

Taroo ‘Taro

wa

eki

made

arui

-ta.

TOP

station

to

walk

PAST

walked

(4b) Satoo-sensei (54

(f-4

to the station.’ wa eki made

‘Prof.

Sato

Taroo

wa isogasii. busy (adj.)

‘Taro

is busy.’

(5b) Satoo-sensei

walked

o-aruki

ni nat-ta.

to the station.’

(Prof.

Sato exalted)

wa o-isogasii.

‘Prof.

Sato

Taroo

wa genki high-spirited

is busy.’

(nom. ‘Taro

361

-da. COPULA

adj.)

is high-spirited.’

(6b) Satoo-sensei

wa o-genki da. Sato is high-spirited.’

‘Prof.

(74 Taroo

(nom. ‘Taro

-da.

wa rippa admirable adj.)

is admirable.’

C’b) Satoo-sensei ‘Prof.

Sato

wa go-rippa-da. is admirable.’

There are a number of irregular or suppletive SH forms. Sino-Japanese verbals consist of S-J nouns and the verb suru ‘do’. When these forms undergo subject honoritication suru is supplemented by nasaru or by the super-honorific form asobasu. (8a)

Taroo ‘Taro

wa ryokoo travel

si-ta.

traveled.’

(8b)

Satoo-sensei wa go-ryokoo ‘Prof. Sato traveled.’

(8~)

Satoo-sensei

wa go-ryokoo

nasat-ta. asobasi-ta.

and asobasu may be used to replace the regular SH ending ni naru. Other suppletive forms are far more idiosyncratic and need to be learned separately.

Nasaru

(9)

iku

‘go’

iru

‘exist’

kuru ‘come’1 kuru ‘come’

o kosi ni naru 0 mie ni naru

and zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONM women’s zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUT language

S. Ide 1 Politeness

362

kureru ‘give’ (in-giving)

kudusaru

miru

‘see’

go ran ni naru

iu

‘say’

ossyaru

Besides these o . . . ni naru SH forms, there is a productive SH verb ending. The suffix (rjare (homophonous with the passive suffix) may be attached to a verb to obtain a SH form. (l&t)

Taroo ‘Taro

(lob)

ga hon o NOM ACC wrote

kai

-ta.

write

a book.’

Satoo-sensei ga hon o kak-are-ta ‘Prof. Sato wrote a book.’

Along with SHs, an adverb may be converted into an honorific form with the prefixes o and go when it modifies the activity of a respectable person. (1

la)

Satoo-sensei ‘Prof.

(11 b)

Sato returned

Satoo-sensei ‘Prof.

wa o-hayaku o-kaeri ni nut-ta. early (ad.) return

Sato’s

early.’

no musuko-sun son son grew

wa go-rippa-ni remarkably

up remarkably

go-seityoo well

nusat-ta

grow

well.’

Subject honorifics as described above are what is called sonkeigo, literally meaning ‘respect language’ in traditional grammar. On the other hand, object honorifics, to be presented below, are called kenzy oogo, meaning ‘humble language’. These terms represent the speaker’s attitude toward the referent; i.e. by sonkeigo the speaker’s respectful or deferential attitude toward the subject referent is expressed while by kenzy oogo the speaker’s humble attitude toward the object referent is expressed. Object honor$ics

Object honorifics involve the prefix o (go) and the ending sum attached to the infinitive form of a verb. (12a) (12b)

Watasi

wa Taroo

ni DAT

sono

wake

its

reason

‘I asked Taro the reason.’ Watasi wa Satoo-sensei ni sono ‘I asked

Prof.

Sato

the reason.’

o tazune-ta

wake

ask o o-tazune

si-ta

363

S. Ide / Polileness and women’s language

When Sino-Japanese verbals undergo object honorification, the prefix o is replaced by hai. (Hai means to bow one’s head, while o is a prefix to raise the status of the referent.) (13a)

Watasi

‘I saw Taro’s

(13b)

Watasi

no

syasin

0 mi-ta.

POSS photo.’

photo

see

wa Taroo

wa Satoo-sensei

no o-syasin

o hai-ken S-J morpheme

si-ta

of ‘see’ ‘I saw Prof.

Sato’s

photo.’

suppletive forms. zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVU

There are some idiosyncratic (14)

iku

‘go’

kiku

‘hear’

au

‘meet’

ukagau omenikakaru itadaku

morau ‘receive’ siru yaru

tyoodaisuru

‘know’ ‘give’

zonziageru agrru

i sasiageru

(The status of these forms is subject to changes. In the last few decades ageru has become a plain form and is now used as an honorific only among older generations.) honorifcs The addressee honorific is what is called teineigo ‘polite language’ in traditional grammar. As illustrated below, it can be applied independently of the referent honorific.

Addressee

(15a) (15b) (1%)

Taroo

ga ki

‘Taro

come came.’

Taroo

ga ki masi-ta.

Satoo-sensei ‘Prof.

(15d) (15e) (15f)

-ta.

ga ki-ta.

(plain)

(addressee (plain)

honorific)

Sat0 came.’

Satoo-sensei

ga irassyat-ta.

(subject

Satoo-sensei

ga ki masi-ta.

(addressee

Satoo-sensei

ga irassy ai masi-ta.

honorific) honorific)

(subject

and addressee

In actual speech events, however,. the addressee referent.

honorifics)

often coincides with the

S. Ide 1 Politeness

364

(16)

Anata

wa irassyai

and women’s language

(subject masu ka. QUESTION

and adressee

honorifics)

‘Are you coming?’

As shown in examples (15) and (16), AHs are realized with the wuzsu ending. The AH form of the copula da is desu, or degozaimusu, a super-honorific form. (17&

Taroo

wa gakusei student

da.

‘Taro

is a student.’

Taroo Taroo

wa gakusei zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA dew . wa gakusei degozaimasu.

Taroo

wa genki

da.

Taroo

wa genki

desu.

Taroo

wa genki

degozaimasu.

Humble forms

There-are forms which neither exalt the referent nor respect the addressee, but humble the speaker. (19a)

Watasi

ga iku. go

‘I will go.’

(19b)

Watasi

ga mairu. humble

form

of ‘go’

Muiru is not honorific, as it shows the addressee the modesty of the speaker by humbling the speaker’s behavior. It is, in principle, independent of AHs, and therefore the following type of expression is possible.

(20) saa

mairu 20.

now ‘Now,

(I’m) going.’

20 is a sentence final particle for confirmation used in plain speech addressed to an inferior. Thus, the use of humble forms does not necessarily entail polite speech.

omou ‘think’ siru

‘know’

zonzu

S. Ide / Politeness and women’s language

365

aru

‘exist’

iru

‘exist’ zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA OI U

iu

‘say’ ‘do’

surtl

gozaru

nloosu ifasu

In modern speech forms such as zonz~ and gozaru are seldom used by themselves. Expressions like these are only used in a samurai movie by a samurai. In modern speech they occur generally with the addressee honorific ending masu, e.g. watusi ga mairi masu, as an expression of a higher degree of politeness toward the addressee. The humble forms also co-occur with object honorific forms, and in such combinations a higher degree of respect is expressed toward the object referents. (22a)

Watasi

wa Satoo-sensei

‘I asked

(22b)

Watasi

Prof.

Sato

ni sono

wake

o o-tazune

moosi- age masi-ta.

wake

o o-tazune

itasi masi-ta.

the reason.’

wa Satoo-sensei

ni sono

In these examples, the humble forms moosi- ageru and itusu replace sure o...